The Snowshoe Wedgie
By Sheldon Seale
The hair from the feet of the snowshoe rabbit is one of
the most versatile materials there is for winging dry
flies. It makes an excellent alternative for Antro, CDC,
elk hair, and deer hair. Most fly fishers are familiar
with it as the key ingredient for the Snowshoe Caddis,
the Snowshoe Parachute, and that amazingly deadly Canadian
pattern, the Usual.
Yet another adaption is to substitute it in the wings
of regular adult mayfly patterns which call for deer hair,
where it is tied in as an upright wedge shape. The result
is a wing, which not only has a strong profile, but also
a transparency similar to that found in the natural insect.
The profile and transparency can make all the difference
when trout become particularly selective.
The snowshoe wedgie adaptation can be used for any
medium to large adult mayfly patterns. There are
a few subtleties to the tie which demand a little
more attention than most traditional patterns, but,
with a little practice, these are not difficult to
master, The following instructions are for the
Yellow Drake. A selection of some of the other
possible adaptions is listed in the table below.
Materials - Yellow Drake Snowshoe Wedgie
Hook: Standard dry fly hook, size 10.
Thread: To match body or red, 6/0.
Tail: Split, splayed or bunched hackle fibers
in ginger.Abdomen: Light yellow dubbing.
Wing: Snowshoe Rabbit foot hair, dyed yellow,
wedge style.Hackle: Ginger, wrapped over the thorax in front
on the wing and notched on the bottom.Thorax: Same as abdomen.
Tying Instructions Yellow Drake
Step 1. Start the thread about 1/3 back from
the hook eye. Lay down a layer of thread to the bend.
Add a tail and dub an abdomen forward over the thread.
This is the first of the subtleties. The wing will be
tied in to take advantage of the difference in diameters
of the hook shank and the abdomen. It must be tied in so
the abdomen helps push it up at the correct angle. If
it’s not tied in correctly, the fly will come out looking
like a tailed caddis.
Step 2. Take a sparse bunch of Snowshoe rabbit
foot fur and comb out the butts. Hold the bunch in your
right hand between your thumb (on the bottom) and forefinger
(on the top). Now, take the hair in your left hand by
pinching it from the sides between your thumb and forefinger.
This does two things. First, the hair is now held correctly
for tying in and, second, the hair will be flattened between
the thumb and forefinger of your left hand. This is
important for tying in the wing and forming the wedge.
Position the wing on top of the hook shank right in front
of the abdomen. Secure using the pinched loop technique as if
you were tying in a wet fly wing of duck quill slips. The
wing should not extend past the abdomen. There are two very
important point. First, the wind must be tied up against
the abdomen to get the correct angle in the wing. Second,
the hair must stack as it’s being tied down, rather than
allowed to spread out over the top of the hook shank. This
takes a little practice. Putting down a couple of turns of
thread just in front of the abdomen can help, but remember
to maintain the difference in the hook shank and abdomen
diameters.
Step 3. Trim the butts of the hair at an
angle and tie down neatly with thread. Select and
tie in a hackle at the base of the wing. Before
winding the hackle in front of the wing, you may
optionally dub a sparse thorax over the wing base.
This is especially useful if you are using a contrasting
colour of thread. Wind the hackle over the thorax, secure
with thread and trim the excess hackle. Form a small
neat head and tie off. Coat with head cement and the
fly is ready for trimming the wing and hackle. This
will help the fly to sit up at the correct angle. Optionally,
trim the trailing edge of the wing. Note the strong profile
of the wing in the photo.
Step 4. Here is the completed fly from
the front. Note the flatness of the wing on each side
and notch cut out of the underside of the hackle. Until
you get the feel of how much snowshoe to use, you may
need to trim the sides of the wing to encourage the
correct profile from the front. The notch can be adjusted
on the stream.
Fishing Notes:
Fish the Snowshoe Wedgie as you’d fish any dry fly.
When the fish are being very selective, refusing the
usual presentations of parachutes, haystacks or comparduns,
a Snowshoe Wedgie can often be what it takes to deceive
them. The strong side profile and the crinkly nature of
the wing material provide a good match to the natural,
and the light passing through the snowshoe rabbit hair
suggests the venation in the mayfly wing. This is a
pattern which has often worked for me when casting to
finicky trout when all others have failed. ~ SS
Credits: This article is from the October/December
2003 issue of the Canadian
Fly Fisher. We appreciate use permission.
Originally published October 20th, 2003 on Fly Anglers Online by Sheldon Seale.